The diversion: Politicians who are in trouble rely on the old sleight of hand

We have some bad news.

There are no real magicians in the world who can make an elephant disappear, and none of them can saw a woman in half and not spend 100 years in the slammer.

They make their acts work by illusion and misdirection. They get you to look over here, while the action is taking place over there.

And that, in a nutshell, is exactly what is happening right now as the presidential campaign hits another week of television ads and finger-pointing press conferences.

This time, it is about taxes.

The new battle cry -- since he really does not want to talk about jobs, the economy or health care anymore -- is for President Barack Obama to tell you that the call to keep the Bush tax cuts for all Americans is just another attempt by those rich-people-loving Republicans to stomp on the underclass.

He is the one looking out for the little people, the working people, he suggests.

Here we go again.

Let's boil it down.

What is the best way to get the middle class richer and more people off unemployment?

Business expansion.

Who expands businesses?

Business owners.

Whom does a tax that attacks people making over $250,000 a year impact?

Entrepreneurs and small business owners.

What will they do if their costs go up?

Freeze or cut -- that's what you have to do when your budget gets hit.

What does that do to investment and jobs?

You get the point.

The president's solution to the nation's economic difficulties is to spend more money and to enact more "fees" that really, bottom line, are taxes.

He gets more bureaucrats -- remember, thousands of new Internal Revenue Service agents ready to start looking at your health care spending; more people dependent on government to make a living; and a whole bunch more people signed up for entitlements that we simply cannot afford and that you will pay for one way or the other, guaranteed.

And, by the way, if you are a man or a woman who has worked all his or her life to build a nest egg for your children and grandchildren, you might want to keep a close eye on the new rules for capital gains. There just might be a few changes in the "fees" there, too. How many times exactly is enough to pay taxes on money you have earned and invested?

Now, if you look at what is really going on behind the curtain, you will see that the president is not really the working man's friend. In fact, he just might be peddling the same-old, same-old, but with a pretty new assistant and a snarling tiger.

Just keep your eye on what is really going on stage left, before you make a decision where to cast your ballot this fall.

Published in Editorials on July 14, 2012 11:26 PM